The present invention is directed to storage receptacles and more particularly to a method and apparatus for storing used medical needles. In the use of medical needles for drawing blood and bodily fluids from patients, it is well recognized that the disposal of such needles is critical in preventing the spread of highly contagious diseases such as AIDS and various forms of hepatitis to the medical technician. One popular type of medical needle in common use today is the butterfly-type rigid needle which includes gripping side strips and an attached tubing for transmitting the fluids to a suitable reciprocal when in use. The attached tubing can serve to provide a whipping action causing the needle to precariously flip around, out of control. In some instances, the needle cannot be immediately disposed of after removal from the patient. This is especially true in the practice of hemodialysis where the immediate concern of the technician is the control of the bleeding from the vacated needle site. More often than not, the used needle is precariously laid either in the patient's lap or on the floor where the needle tip is exposed.
A variety of devices and systems have been propose to prevent possible needle sticks. Examples of such devices can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,631,058; 4,758,229; 4,917,342; 4,935,012; 4,969,876; 5,017,189; 5,037,400 and 5,046,612. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,820,282; 4,935,011 and 5,061,250 disclose the use of a sheath to retract the needle, but are subject to the same objection cited above.
It is therefor a principal object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for storing used medical needles in which the used needle can be safely inserted into a storage receptacle using only one hand.
It is another object of this invention to provide a support member for a storage member for storing used medical needles which requires only one hand to store the needles in the storage member.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a low cost storage member for storing used medical needles.